Integrated in silico and experimental discovery of trimeric peptide ligands targeting Butyrylcholinesterase
Rudra Palash Mukherjee1, Geok-Yong Yow2, Samuel Sarakbi2
1Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA.
Abstract:
Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is recognized as a high value biotherapeutic in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and drug addiction. This study presents the rational design and screening of an in-silico library of trimeric peptides against BChE and the experimental characterization of peptide ligands for purification. The selected peptides consistently afforded high BChE recovery (> 90 %) and purity, yielding up to a 1000-fold purification factor. This study revealed a marked anti-correlated conformational movement governed by the ionic strength and pH of the aqueous environment, which ultimately controls BChE binding and release during chromatographic purification; and highlighted the role of residues within and allosteric to the catalytic triad of BChE in determining biorecognition, thus providing useful guidance for ligand design and affinity maturation.
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